In times like these...
by Bird Brain
Summary: ~*SLASH*~ Harry falls for another 5th year Gryffindor boy. Can his boyfriend help him survive when Voldie returns...? (Possibly some slight HP/HG, HG/GW, RW/DT, HP/DM, DM/SF, and the main pairing ain't on there! HAHAHA!)


In times like these...  
  
Rating: PG-13 / R  
  
Category: Romance / FLUFFINESS! (In later chapters though... Sorry...)  
  
Summary: Harry falls for another 5th year Gryffindor boy (So, of course, it's slash.) Can his boyfriend help him survive when Voldie returns...? (Possibly some slight HP/HG, HG/GW, RW/DT, HP/DM, DM/SF, and the main pairing ain't on there! HAHAHA!)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else that J.K.R. somehow came up with. Also, anything taken from another fic doesn't belong to me either (though it could be just coincidental that I came up with something already out there...)  
  
Author's Note: HI! I just finished my English test and I have to do something, so... I could study for my history test for 7th hour, but I don't wanna... And it's tomorrow anyway! So... *Starts dancing with Hermione.* So, for your viewing... er... um, reading pleasure, I'd like to present: *~In times like these...~*  
  
*Lance walks in*  
  
L: Hey!  
  
J: GET OUT!!! THIS IS MY FICCY!!! *hits him then throws his out the window* *cackles*  
  
Dashes (-) in words are sniffles, asterisks (*) are actions, and italicized words in between ' s are thoughts, 'K?  
  
(BTW: NO FLAMES! If you don't like it, don't review. Constructive criticism barely acceptable...)  
  
~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~  
  
Harry Potter lay on his bed, his emerald-green eyes glued to the ceiling. He was bored; not because there was nothing to do, but because Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were on vacation in Fiji. (Harry had no idea why Dudley Dursley would ever want to go to Fiji; to Dudley, anywhere without a TV was a slightly more subtle form of hell.) Harry probably missed Uncle Vernon's constant yelling, or Dudley's constant torture and mockery (not in a way that he wanted it back, mind you...) Though how could he miss it? He finally escaped it (well, for a short time anyway) and could actually enjoy some of his holiday. (What was left of it anyway... The summer was almost over and the start of the term was almost here.) But that was good. One more minute in that house with those... 'Err!' He shuddered every time he though of those... those... things... They were too annoying... Mrs. Figg (for some reason unbeknownst to Harry) had come to stay at the Dursley's house to babysit Harry, rather than Harry going to her cabbage-scented house. But she still had her cats with her... There was no way Harry could escape those demons. They followed him everywhere he went... (This was Harry's more subtle form of hell...) He could put up with them though. More so than with the Dursleys anyway.  
  
'So,' He thought, 'what to do...' In a nut shell: nothing. He'd done everything he could think of (save blowing up stuff with his wand, but seeing as that was forbidden...) He'd read and reread his birthday cards, polished his Firebolt a good ten times, and read all of his spell books many times through (even after he finished his homework...) 'I'm gonna be better prepared for the exams than 'Mione...' He shuddered. 'Scary... Wait! Is that even possible?!'  
  
He managed to get a hold of them and all his Hogwarts stuff when Mrs. Figg open the cupboard where they were contained, in search of something. (The Dursleys locked them in the cupboard under the stairs, due to Mrs. Figg coming over to baby sit. They didn't want her to accidentally come upon the stuff and learn of Harry's 'abnormality.' 'What do they think she'll do? Come into my room to look in my underwear drawer to search for something [she was always looking for one thing or another] and accidentally discover my stuff...?' But in doing this, they risked Harry informing his convited godfather of their rather unfair treatment. They never forgot about what they thought to be a threat on Harry's part.) Thankfully, Mrs. Figg opened the cupboard to try to find... something. (Harry didn't know exactly what it was she was trying to find, nor did he care [she might have just been snooping...]; he just wanted his stuff back.) He was prepared to ask her if she would be so kind as to open it for him, so he might retrieve something, but since she already opened it, he didn't have to.  
  
Resolving to write to Hermione, he got up, walked to his Hogwarts trunk, and pulled out a piece of parchment. He took a pen off his desk (he didn't want to bother with a quill) and began to write.  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
How's everything...? I'm great, but bored. The Dursleys went to Fiji, 'cause Dudley was whining about how Piers went last year... I don't know why on earth he'd wanna go to Fiji anyway, but... I'm stuck with Mrs. Figg and her demonic cats... I don't know why I need a babysitter-  
  
(A/N: CUZ I SAID SO!!!!!!!!)  
  
(Harry: Shut up...)  
  
-but... But she came over to the Dursleys' so I'm not stuck inhaling that nasty cabbage smell all day...  
  
Have you heard from Ron lately?  
  
Man! I can't wait for the term to start! But what thing'll happen this year...?  
  
Sorry that I'm rambling, but I really don't have much else to do... And yes, I've done my homework (Mrs. Figg opened the cupboard under the stairs to look for something and I asked if I could have my stuff. The Dursleys put all in there, because they didn't want Mrs. Figg to know about me being a wizard. But if it was in my room...)  
  
"Harry!" called Mrs. Figg. "Dinner!"  
  
He sighed.  
  
Well, I have to go... Dinner... Sorry... See you in September!  
  
Love,  
  
Harry  
  
Harry stood up and went downstairs, leaving the letter on his desk.  
  
'Is 'love' to strong a word...?'  
  
~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~  
  
Harry poked at his dinner, trying not to make it look too obvious that he hated his food; err... If it could even rightfully be called food...  
  
"Mmm... Great dinner... Thanks..."  
  
"Oh! Thank you Harry!" She gave him a big, toothy smile. He weakly returned it.  
  
He was eating burned, stuffed cabbage rolls.  
  
'Is this why her house always smells like cabbage...?'  
  
While he was eating, (or rather, picking at his plate, trying it make it look like he was eating) a cat jumped on his plate and started eating his fo- I mean, his... whatever you wanna call it... ('How can it eat that?!') Mrs. Figg put the plate on the floor and offered Harry another, but he quickly said, "Um... Great dinner. Thanks," and ran off.  
  
'Well, at least I didn't have to finish it...'  
  
He go to his room, sat down at his desk, and folded up the letter to Hermione, oblivious to the "love" he'd put for the closing. But then he unfolded it, picked up his pen, and added, P.S. Send the second letter to Ron.  
  
He picked up a second sheet and wrote:  
  
Ron-  
  
Just then, the power went out, due to the storm brewing.  
  
"Dang..." Harry stumbled to his trunk and pulled out his wand. "Lumos!" he muttered. But then it hit him: He couldn't use magic... "Err!"  
  
Sure enough, just as he said that, an owl flew down and knocked (or, rather tapped) on his window.  
  
He opened it, knowing full-well what the owl had.  
  
After dropping the letter into his hands, the owl flew off into the storm. Harry slowly opened it and read:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
We have received intelligence that the Lumos Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at six minutes to nine.  
  
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).  
  
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.  
  
Enjoy your holidays!  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Mafalda Hopkirk  
  
Improper Use of Magic Office  
  
Ministry of Magic  
  
He folded it and tossed it on his bed. His wand was still lit, so what harm could it do to use it...? He put it next to the parchment and began writing the letter.  
  
This-  
  
"Oh no you don't Harry..." came an echoing voice. His wand went out.  
  
"ERR!!!" He then ran downstairs to get a flashlight. Mrs. Figg was sitting in a chair, surrounded by a dozen cats, reading by candle light.  
  
"Oh hi Harry!" she said happily.  
  
"Hi..." he mumbled as he crept toward the kitchen.  
  
"You know," she began before he could escape. "I haven't had much time for reading, being so busy and all. But his power outage is great! I can finally catch up on some reading! I have this new romance novel called The Winds of England. It's the sequel to The Winds of Europe. Here! Let me read you some..."  
  
She began reading about some girl named Ophelia and her lover Winston.  
  
It made absolutely no sense to Harry, but it evidently made the world of sense to Mrs. Figg, for she was crying her eyes out as she read it.  
  
"'The wind caught her delicate *sniffle* golden locks as she walked swiftly to her betrothed. The moonlight *sniffle* bathed her pale face, her ravishing blue eyes sparkling like the ocean in the *sniffle* moon's light. Her love's eyes burned through her *sniffle* as he approached her. Her hands came to rest on his bare chest as they kissed softly under the moonlight, the cold air chilling their exposed skin, but not effecting them, for they were wrapped ti-ght-ly in *sniffle* ea-ch other's *sniffle* a-haharms-aaaa.'" (A/N: That's supposed to be like... well... um... Sorry... Can't figure out how to describe it... Just read it slowly and think about her crying...)  
  
'That author really likes moonlight...' thought Harry.  
  
"Beau-ti-ful... Amazing... Insp-ired..." said Mrs. Figg through a mass of tears.  
  
'Oh my word...'  
  
"Err... Yeah... Great..." he muttered, before sneaking to the kitchen to find a flashlight.  
  
After searching through many drawers and finding the flashlight, he sneaked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room, trying very hard not to be caught by Mrs. Figg again and forced to listen to her ramble on, reading some rubbish and bawling her eyes out while ranting and raving about how "inspired" it is...  
  
He made it upstairs, sat down at his desk, put the flashlight by his parchment, (it was already on) and continued writing.  
  
-stinks... The power went out and I accidentally lit my wand (forgetting, of course, that I couldn't use magic...) So I got that stupid letter from the M.O.M... Then, I tried to use it, seeing as it was already lit, but a voice came out of nowhere and it went out... I went downstairs to get a flashlight (it's a Muggle invention that produces light.) Well, I got caught by Mrs. Figg on my way down... She was reading and had me listen to some rubbish about a girl named Ophelia... I think the book was called The Winds of England or something like that... She started bawling her eyes out and ranting about how "inspired" the book is...  
  
Well, anyway, the Dursleys went to Fiji for the summer... (Fiji's some tropical island where Muggles go for vacation...) Dudley'll probably start complaining that there's no TV, or that his batteries in his GameBoy don't work, (I took 'em out!) or that he doesn't have me to torture... (And if you're asking, a GameBoy is a hand-held, electronic thingy that Muggle kids play with. And a battery is a temporary power source.)  
  
Well, hope everything's okay with you. See you in September!  
  
-Harry  
  
He tied both letters to Hedwig's leg, opened the window, and, reluctantly, threw her out into the storm. After closing the window, he undressed (but left his boxers on) and climbed into bed.  
  
~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~  
  
A/N: So, how was it? I have the next chapter written, but I'm not gonna upload it unless you review, 'K? (Well, I probably will, but...) I know this has nothing to do with the slashiness or the romance or the lemonade (^_^;) but heck! And if you can think of a better title, PLEASE TELL ME!!! I'll give you a cookie! And I'll mention you in previous chapters! Hehe! Well, ja matta ne!  
  
~Joshy 


End file.
